Inter Milan 0-1 Liverpool: Respite and luck come Arne Slot’s way after he drops rebellious Egyptian
The big question of the night was always going to be whether Liverpool could shake off the pressure of Mohamed Salah’s explosive interview and throw some eggs in his face with a win over Inter Milan. They did.
Not that it was easy. Slot travelled to Milan missing not only the rebellious superstar, who earlier in the day posted a photo on Instagram of himself alone in the gym, but also Cody Gakpo and Federico Chiesa.
Slot managed. He started both of his remaining forwards, Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike, still £204m worth of talent. And then in midfield he deployed Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch in a diamond shape. Isak and Ekitike worked hard but rarely threatened Inter’s goal; a clear chance came when Ekitike broke through on the right but the Frenchman struck straight at Yann Sommer.
Liverpool thought they had taken the lead when Ibrahima Konate headed in from a corner, only for a brutally long VAR review to pick up a handball by Ekitike in the build-up. The game was delayed for nearly four minutes.
When it was restarted, it was Inter who seized control of proceedings. Liverpool held firm and Alisson had to push away a header from Lautaro Martinez just before the break.
After the break Liverpool looked the more secure team, although they still looked shorn of creativity. Florian Wirtz and Conor Bradley were brought on as reinforcements and the latter forced Sommer into a low save moments after coming on.
Then Liverpool got a lucky break when Alessandro Bastoni foolishly pulled Wirtz’s shirt in the box. Play was initially allowed to continue but the VAR advised a monitor check and the penalty was given. Szoboszlai, who has so far been Salah’s replacement on the right when the Egyptian has been dropped, took over his penalty duties and converted.
